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Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo was the first caller to get through shortly after 12:01 a.m. Officials from the Knicks, Heat, Lakers, Mavericks and Nets dialed in soon thereafter. And with his client sitting in such close proximity after their late-night meal, Duffy offered each team that rang an opportunity to speak directly to Nash.

It didn't seem like much at the time, but that's when Nash and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had their first chat. Kupchak let Duffy know that he was well aware of Nash's comments to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN New York 98.7 just days before about how "hard" it would be "to put on a Lakers jersey" after all of the Suns' playoffs battles with Kobe Bryant and Co. When Kupchak explained that he "had to call anyway," Duffy thanked him and assured him that he was wise to check in, dismissing Nash's quotes as "media hype."

Yet that's as far as things went with the Lakers on Day 1. Face-to-face meetings were quickly arranged with the two most obvious serious suitors to get the Nash sweepstakes officially underway: Toronto and New York.

The Raptors were first up at 10:30 a.m., with a seven-strong contingent of team officials arriving on a cross-country flight arranged by Raptors co-owner Larry Tanenbaum. With Raptors assistant coach Eric Hughes getting married that weekend in Pasadena, Calif., Tanenbaum made his private jet available to transport Colangelo, Raptors coach Dwane Casey, Nash's former Team Canada coach Jay Triano and the rest of the group to the other side of the country as quickly as possible overnight.

Tanenbaum also provided his ritzy Central Park apartment to serve as the venue for what Duffy described as a "big presentation." The food was lavish and the contract offer rich, but the video compilation Colangelo ordered up for the occasion made an impression on Nash that moved him more than a three-year, $36 million pitch ever could -- largely because Wayne Gretzky was the narrator.

Rumbles that Gretzky, one of Nash's boyhood heroes, would be involved in the Raptors' Nash pitch leaked out through the Toronto media before the two parties got together, but "involved" was understating it. The Great One's unmistakable voice was the backdrop for a compilation of clips and interviews that traced Nash's lifelong journey from young basketball dreamer on faraway Victoria Island in British Columbia to two-time MVP with the Suns, hitting all the stops (Santa Clara, Canada's fairy-tale run at the 2000 Olympics and more) in between and promising a Gretzky-esque legacy if he'd join the Raptors now.

More than one person in the room would later say that Nash was fighting back tears watching it all.

"We all were," Duffy said. "It was like watching a Hall of Fame video.

"They wanted us to close the deal right then."

[+] EnlargeNash
Johnny Nunez/Getty ImagesSeen here with his twin daughters in 2010, Nash wanted to stay close to them and his toddler son.

Colangelo's approach was reminiscent of the full-court press that greeted Nash from Phoenix on the opening day of free agency back in 2004 -- when another extra-large traveling party descended upon Dallas to swipe Nash away from Mark Cuban's Mavericks -- with the bonus of knowing that the inspired Gretzky wrinkle took the whole operation to a new level. The difference this time, eight years later, is that Nash simply wasn't ready to move that quickly. He couldn't decide that fast knowing that the familiar soil of Toronto, home to Canada's only NBA franchise, was an address far away from his kids.

Proof that the PR firm that placed that article with Stein earned their money.

I'd have one question for Nash about all this, when you are living in NY during the Summer where are your three kids?

Their custody arrangement has his kids staying with Nash in the summer.. but when he's on the road the kids are with his ex-wife. If he was playing in Toronto, he would not be able to see his kids as often as their school is in Phoenix.

Their custody arrangement has his kids staying with Nash in the summer.. but when he's on the road the kids are with his ex-wife. If he was playing in Toronto, he would not be able to see his kids as often as their school is in Phoenix.

He has the toddler away from mom for the whole summer? I doubt it. Source please.

Nash has shared custody of his three children with his ex-wife. The terms of their custody arrangement are shaped by the NBA season. When he's at home the kids are with him, when he's on the road they're with his ex-wife; they split the summers.

This father routine is extremely dubious, dude is divorced with three young children for a reason. Probably because he is to busy for family time, like many people.

Steve Nash's ex-wife was caught cheating on him, thus the reason for the divorce. It happened around the time their 3rd kid was born. How busy is an NBA'er anyway? They play 41 home games. A game is what 3 hours long? Practice would only be like 3-4 hours long as well. I'm sure he spends a lot of time with his kids. Why are you assuming he doesn't?

What I'm assuming is that the kids, especially the toddler, don't spend long periods of time away from their mother. What I know is that he lives in NY for the summer.

Whether the toddler is 2 years, 1 year or 1 week.. the courts had decided that they split their summers 50/50. So the kids get to stay with poppa for half as much time as their momma. Perhaps the two parents are in speaking terms and have decided to work some agreement where they spend that time together. Regardless of the fact, Steve gets time with his kids whether his ex-wife likes it or not.

Hopefully the parents put their personal differences aside and have worked an agreement where they can mutually spend time with their kids. And that is why the idea of his ex-wife spending her summer in NY makes a tonne of sense. Whether that is true or not is a different story. The fact is that Steve gets to spend half the summer with his kids no matter how old they are. And that's because of the law.